From We to Me: Moving Towards an Examination of Self Identity in an Online, Global, Collaborative, Learning Environment.

This paper reflects on previous work using QE to examine patterns of discourse of adolescent learners in a virtual, global, collaborative informal learning setting. The collective impact of involvement in the project on participants’ experiences was observed in various reflective interviews over the last five years. The deep reflection of this work resulted in a research shift from the general impact on the participants to a shift towards examining how such experiences shape self-identity, such as recognizing identity congruence, relational self, and overcoming negative identity fostered by master narrative frameworks. An initial examination of pre-assessment interviews indicates that younger students are still negotiating their self-understanding, leaving the potential for involvement in the project environment to develop a more thorough understanding of self.